Restaurant Tigaki Beach Taverna (and More Meni bar), Tigaki, Kos Island, Greece
The elaborately named Restaurant Tigaki Beach Tavern is situated as close to the beach as you can get right at the end of the main strip. I assume they got in there first with acquiring the name of the town in their restaurant name. It does a good lunchtime trade with the sunbathers both in terms of sit down meals and the drinks that the sunbed attendants will bring out for you. They also let you use their toilets as long as you don’t walk in dripping wet from the sea. They could claim a sea view if you ignored the low trees and sunbeds between you and the water.
As well as a lunch, which I might talk about later in a post about Caesar salads (no really this is how I’m rolling with this blog!) we had dinner at this restaurant. I had another mixed grill and Siggy had the lamb chops. Ahead of the meat we had garlic bread with an interesting tomato dip and ordered a couple of Alphas.
A problem with mixed grills is they tend to attract the attention of begging cats. I’m not a big fan of cats (domestic ones anyway) and so when I became the focus of multiple feline attention in the taverna it lessened the eating experience for me. Read other posts to find out how extreme the cat ‘problem’ can get. I view cats as an imposition that would be dealt with via a swift kick if it happened in private. To balance things out cats versus dogs-wise we were also treated to the joyous sight of a dog having a shake-inducing crap on the scrubland under the stumpy trees. Such are the delights of al fresco eating in Tigaki.
The spare rib in the mixed grill was a good six inches long and if it was a spare then I’d love to see the real ribs – they must be massive. Unfortunately despite the size there seemed to be more fat than meat on the thick bone. The burger was as good as any of the other tavernas and we didn’t experience a cooked from frozen pre-made patty anywhere on the island. McDonalds would probably be laughed out of town, but I wouldn’t put it past them to have a branch in Kos Town. The kid opposite me over Siggy’s shoulder, who was cramming chips into her gaping mouth in a perpendicular fashion so they folded around her fork, would probably have loved a Happy Meal.
Instead of an after-meal drink we got a complimentary piece of lemon blancmange covered in desiccated coconut. Once I’d scraped off the coconut, the lemon bit was great. Given that the grill was fifteen euros I kind of expected a decent freebie.
We then wandered to the nearby More Meni bar for some well made cocktails. I enjoyed a clear Mai Tai and Siggy had a White Russian which she has since boldly declared is the ‘best White Russian on the island’.
All photography (c) Matthew Haynes.
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